Hinkley Point C nuclear power station is expected to be finished by 2031 (Picture: EDF Energy/AFP)
The UK may have to get used to blackouts in less than five years as a series of power stations close their doors, according to new research.
Think tank Public First has warned the country does not have sufficient means to generate enough power to make up for the loss.
Under current plans, four British nuclear power plants will be decommissioned by April 2028: Hartlepool in County Durham, Heysham I and II in Lancashire, and Torness in East Lothian.
The last remaining coal-fired power station in the country, Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottinghamshire, is scheduled to shut down in September this year.
Public First’s report, titled Mind the Gap: Exploring Britain’s energy crunch, was commissioned by Drax Power, the operator of biomass-fuelled Drax power station in North Yorkshire.
It says delays to the delivery of Hinkley Point C, which began construction in 2016, could add to the shortfall while demand grows due to the rise in electric vehicles and heat pumps.
The new nuclear power station was originally intended to start generating next year – but now it is not expected to come online until at least 2031.
At the same time, the anticipated cost of building the facility in Somerset has risen from £18 billion when it was first given the green light to £35 billion.
Hinkley Point C will be the first new nuclear power station built in the UK in a generation (Picture: PA)
According to the Telegraph, Public First has forecast that the UK’s demand for power will exceed baseload capacity by 7.5GW at peak times by 2028.
Gas was still the biggest source of electricity generation in the country last year, although National Grid statistics show wind power overtook it in January, October and December.
Despite the reliance on natural gas, the amount of electricity generated from fossil fuels last year fell to the lowest level since 1957.
Low-carbon sources made up 56% of the UK’s supplies, according to analysis by Carbon Brief – still a long way off the government’s ambition of 95% by 2030.
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French energy company EDF, which manages all eight nuclear power stations in Britain, said last month it would make a decision on whether to extend the lifespans of Hartlepool, Torness, and Heysham I and II by the end of this year.
This morning, BBC Panorama reported that Drax, the power company behind the Public First report, has been burning wood from rare ‘old-growth’ Canadian forests.
The business has received £6 billion in green subsidies even as its wood pellet-burning station emits around 12 million tonnes of carbon a year, the BBC said.
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